External configurators are software tools used by various vendors, OEMs, system integrators, and the like to configure, monitor, and maintain RAID controllers. In a dual active controller environment, configurators will monitor the presence and activity of the partner controllers. External configurators generally need some means of determining the partner of a particular external RAID controller in a dual-active controller configuration, for example in controllers such as the controllers in the Mylex External RAID Controller SX/SF family, or similar controllers. Previously it was not possible to reliably determine the partner SX/SF of a particular SX/SF and therefore know which SX/SF is going away because of a Reset Controllers or other duplex effecting command.
In an environment where one or more host computers (with external configurators) and RAID controllers exist, each external configurator will need to determine the relative partnership of the attached controllers. The configurator may do so by writing a signature to the controller, which can later be read back. Through their monitoring efforts, the configurators will be able to detect a change in the state of a controller, and know which controller in a controller-pair is affected. Heretofore, configurators had not had any means to readily identify partner controllers in a dual active controller pair.